Read Online Gideon's Redemption by Maddie Taylor - Free Book Online

bouncing up and down again with excitement. He was a small bundle of energy and reminded Gideon of himself at that age.
    “It’s not all it’s cracked up to be, son.” He blanched at his slip and his eyes flew to meet Shannon’s startled gaze. They hadn’t decided how or when to tell him yet. She squeezed the hand he still held in return and suddenly giggled. That shocked him. He thought she’d be pissed over his little lapse, but she smiled and shook her head as if saying, “Don’t worry about it.”
    “I think it’s fresh. I want to be in a band. Can you teach me to play the guitar? Or the drums, can you play the drums? That would be so cool to play the drums!”
    The adults laughed at his youthful enthusiasm as Gideon pulled up to the front door.
    “Do you have a pool, what about a pool table? Do I get my own room?”
    “Eli, slow down. I’m sure we’ll get the grand tour very soon.”
    “The answer to all of your questions is yes. I thought I could show you around first. Afterwards, we could scrounge up something to eat and then take a swim in the pool. Sound good?”
    “That’s sick!” he said and bounded out of the car.
    Shannon frowned after him. “That was rude. I’m so sorry.”
    Gideon patted her thigh affectionately. “Sick is a good thing nowadays, Shannon.”
    Looking at him in surprise, she asked, “It is?”
    “Yeah, it means awesome.”
    Shaking her head she sighed. “It used to mean gross. He’s only nine. What am I going to do when he gets to be a teenager? I’ll need a translator.”
    “No probs, noob. We’re tope. I got yo back.” Because he was producing a 16-year-old’s new record, he was up on more of the youth slang than Shannon, who looked at him with a glazed over expression. He couldn’t help but laugh when she said, “Crap! Not you too! I have no idea what you just said.”
    Gideon laughed as he came around to help her out. Leaving the bags for the time being, he let them in the front door. He told them there was a garage around back where he usually parked, pointing to the far side of the yard where the driveway curved around back.
    “I’ve got a Lexus SUV that you can drive. The POS you were driving the other night looks like it’s ready for salvage.”
    “My Chevy is not a piece of sh—” She stopped herself just as Eli ran up.
    “I know what POS means, Mom, and he’s right. Your car didn’t even start twice last week.” Looking at Gideon, he continued to throw his mom under the bus. “We had to walk home after dark and take the transit for three days until Jody could fix it. He said there wasn’t enough duct tape and bondo in the world to put the ‘old girl’ back together. He called it a POS, too.”
    Gideon didn’t like the sound of Shannon and Eli walking home after dark in that neighborhood, or anytime for that matter. He was glad he’d put an end to that today. Never again would they be in dangerous situations like that.
    “The Lexus is your mom’s now, Eli. You won’t be walking home alone or riding in a bondomobile again.”
    He opened the door and showed them inside, quickly resetting the alarm system by entering the code into the keypad. “I’ll show you this later. You’ll have to practice a bit to get it down quickly enough.”
    He knew Shannon was only half listening because her gaze was fixated on the far side of the room. It happened with every guest the first time they came to his home. It had happened to him and was the reason he bought the overly large home in the first place.
    Guiding her with a hand on her lower back, he saw what she saw—a sight that he had yet to tire of or take for granted. The foyer opened into a great room which was done in neutral tones; beige tile floors, off white walls and trim, and taupe furnishings all arranged to enhance and not detract from the singular feature of the room. On the far wall, where at least eight sets of French doors opened onto a stone patio, was an incredible, vast expanse of